RUDY’S “DO NOT JUDGE” FALLACY

By Nancy French 28 Sep 2007

Rudy Giuliani invoked the all-too-common “don’t judge me” mantra frequently heard from the lips of Jerry Springer guests who left their spouse and kids to enter the arms of their new lovers. (Rudy’s behavior, however, makes the average Springer guest look like Mother Theresa.)

”I think there are some people that are very judgmental. I’m guided very, very often about, ‘Don’t judge others, lest you be judged. I’m guided a lot by the story of the woman that was going to be stoned, and Jesus put the stones down and said, ‘He that hasn’t sinned, cast the first stone,’ and everybody disappeared. It seems like nowadays in America, we have people that think they could’ve passed that test. And I don’t think anybody could’ve passed that test but Jesus.”

Now, should anyone in America condemn Rudy for marrying his cousin, having it annulled several years later, marrying another woman, cheating on her publicly, announcing his intention of divorce via press conference, and then marrying another woman who’d already been married twice?
Emphatically, no.
However, Rudy demonstrates his misunderstanding of the Biblical admonition to “judge not.” While judging someone’s eternal soul should be left to God, there’s also something called “reading comprehension.” If the Bible says “thou shalt not steal” and you see someone robbing a bank, it’s not “judgmental” to say, “Hey! That’s wrong!” Likewise, there are sexual standards presented in the Bible that don’t include getting married to your tiara-wearing mistress in your second wife’s house.
Actually, I feel a little “judged” by Rudy in his whole tone. Isn’t he actually judging the people he thinks are being “judgmental?”
There’s something else that’s missing in Rudy’s use of this Scripture — notably the end of the story. (Read it in John chapter 8.) At the end, Jesus sees that the entire crowd had dissipated leaving no one to condemn her.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

I can see why Rudy chopped off the ending of the story. — Jesus labeled her behavior as “sin” and told her to stop doing it.
It is not wrong to hold office holders to a certain moral standard. By not telling the full story, Rudy reduces the essential life-giving glory of the gospel to a cheap campaign tactic.
And you think Mitt Romney’s theology is bad?Disclaimer

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